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BILLY GUNN MEMORIAL FOR MODIFIEDS SET FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AT NEW SMYRNA
SPEEDWAY
New Smyrna Speedway returns to action Saturday night with five divisions set
to race under the NASCAR Whelan All-American Series banner with the big event
of the evening being the Billy Gunn Memorial for the Modifieds.
The 50-lap event will be held to honor the memory of the late Billy Gunn who
was one of the top Modified drivers at both New Smyrna Speedway and Orlando
SpeedWorld during the 1990s and early-2000s. Gunn passed away earlier this
year and a number of his fellow competitors and friends wanted to put a race
together to remember their "buddy." The race is open to both the Open Modified
and E-Modified classes which should prove to be interesting as some "extra"
incentive payouts and awards have been added to bring in more of the less
powerful E-Modified cars.
The odds-on favorite to win the race has to be New Smyrna's Jerry "The Hammer"
Symons who has dominated the racing action over the last several months at New
Smyrna and has won both regular season races for the Open Modified class. He
will have a host of challengers in this event though including a driver who
will be coming out of "retirement" to run the Gunn Memorial.
Two-time Florida Governor's Cup champion Mike Fritts has purchased the last
car that Billy Gunn raced several years ago and will enter the race running
the same black #13 that Gunn won so many races with. "We've done a lot of
work on the car to get it race-ready but we left the paint and the number just
the same as Billy last raced it," says Fritts. "There's a lot of rust on both
the car and the driver but we'll do our best. I just wanted to honor my good
friend and what better way than to have his car out there in the competition,"
he said. Fritts himself has not raced in quite some time as he operates the
Ben Kennedy Racing NASCAR K&N East Series operation and travels to all of the
races as crew chief for their current driver Kenzie Ruston.
Other drivers who will be in action include James "Tank" Tucker of New Smyrna,
Polk City's Josh Todd, Robbie Cooper of Bronson, Clermont's Alan Bruns, Ricky
Moxley of Hobe Sound, Ft. Pierce veteran Doc McKinney, Orlando's Shain Held,
Matt Wheeler of New Smyrna, Vero Beach driver Robert "38 Special" Glover and
Art Kunzeman who will tow in from his current home in Houston, TX.
Current E-Modified point leader Jarrett Korpi of Deltona will wheel an Open
Modified machine this week but several of his regular competitors in the
E-Modifieds are entered including Apopka's Junior Beckner, Chris Brannon of
Osteen, Orange City's Jon Compagnone, Justin Reynolds of Merritt Island and
the duo of Mike and George Dahm out of Enterprise. Several other drivers are
expected and well over 20 cars should be on the final entry list looking to
cash in on a very good purse and a variety of awards. Former Modified racer
Jim "Hoot" Flynn, who banged wheels with Billy Gunn in many a race, will be
the Honorary Starter.
Payout and awards for the Billy Gunn Memorial are as follows:
Payout:
1. 1500 & 48" Trophy
2. 1000
3. 800
4. 600
5. 500
6. 450
7. 400
8. 300
9. 225
10. 175
11. 150
12. through field 125
Awards:
Regular Mod...Fast time $100 & Plaque
E-Mod...Fast time $100 & Plaque
Hard Charger $100
Hard Luck $100
Longest Tow $50
Highest finishing E-Mods 1. $150 & 36" Trophy 2. $100 3. $50
13th place finisher additional $100
12th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 24th place finishers 5 gallons race fuel
Other awards and gift certificates are being supplied by Bruns General
Contractors, RaceCar Engineering, Phillips Racing Wires and Finney Racing
Enterprises.
Also on the race card will be the Sportsman Cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks
and Strictly Stocks.
Pit gates open at 3 pm with division practice scheduled from 4-5:40 pm.
Grandstand gates open at 6 pm with Modified qualifying set for 6:20 pm
followed by pre-race ceremonies and racing at 7:30 pm. There will be
eight-lap heat races for the Sportsman cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and and
Strictly Stocks with the 50-lap Billy Gunn Memorial for the Modifieds first up
following intermission. 25-lap features for the Sportsman, Mini Stocks and
Super Stocks will follow the Modified feature and the evening wraps up with a
20-lap contest for the Strictly Stocks.
Adult admission is $15 with all seniors (65+) and active military personnel
with ID admitted for $13. All kids 11 and under are free.
SPEEDWAY
New Smyrna Speedway returns to action Saturday night with five divisions set
to race under the NASCAR Whelan All-American Series banner with the big event
of the evening being the Billy Gunn Memorial for the Modifieds.
The 50-lap event will be held to honor the memory of the late Billy Gunn who
was one of the top Modified drivers at both New Smyrna Speedway and Orlando
SpeedWorld during the 1990s and early-2000s. Gunn passed away earlier this
year and a number of his fellow competitors and friends wanted to put a race
together to remember their "buddy." The race is open to both the Open Modified
and E-Modified classes which should prove to be interesting as some "extra"
incentive payouts and awards have been added to bring in more of the less
powerful E-Modified cars.
The odds-on favorite to win the race has to be New Smyrna's Jerry "The Hammer"
Symons who has dominated the racing action over the last several months at New
Smyrna and has won both regular season races for the Open Modified class. He
will have a host of challengers in this event though including a driver who
will be coming out of "retirement" to run the Gunn Memorial.
Two-time Florida Governor's Cup champion Mike Fritts has purchased the last
car that Billy Gunn raced several years ago and will enter the race running
the same black #13 that Gunn won so many races with. "We've done a lot of
work on the car to get it race-ready but we left the paint and the number just
the same as Billy last raced it," says Fritts. "There's a lot of rust on both
the car and the driver but we'll do our best. I just wanted to honor my good
friend and what better way than to have his car out there in the competition,"
he said. Fritts himself has not raced in quite some time as he operates the
Ben Kennedy Racing NASCAR K&N East Series operation and travels to all of the
races as crew chief for their current driver Kenzie Ruston.
Other drivers who will be in action include James "Tank" Tucker of New Smyrna,
Polk City's Josh Todd, Robbie Cooper of Bronson, Clermont's Alan Bruns, Ricky
Moxley of Hobe Sound, Ft. Pierce veteran Doc McKinney, Orlando's Shain Held,
Matt Wheeler of New Smyrna, Vero Beach driver Robert "38 Special" Glover and
Art Kunzeman who will tow in from his current home in Houston, TX.
Current E-Modified point leader Jarrett Korpi of Deltona will wheel an Open
Modified machine this week but several of his regular competitors in the
E-Modifieds are entered including Apopka's Junior Beckner, Chris Brannon of
Osteen, Orange City's Jon Compagnone, Justin Reynolds of Merritt Island and
the duo of Mike and George Dahm out of Enterprise. Several other drivers are
expected and well over 20 cars should be on the final entry list looking to
cash in on a very good purse and a variety of awards. Former Modified racer
Jim "Hoot" Flynn, who banged wheels with Billy Gunn in many a race, will be
the Honorary Starter.
Payout and awards for the Billy Gunn Memorial are as follows:
Payout:
1. 1500 & 48" Trophy
2. 1000
3. 800
4. 600
5. 500
6. 450
7. 400
8. 300
9. 225
10. 175
11. 150
12. through field 125
Awards:
Regular Mod...Fast time $100 & Plaque
E-Mod...Fast time $100 & Plaque
Hard Charger $100
Hard Luck $100
Longest Tow $50
Highest finishing E-Mods 1. $150 & 36" Trophy 2. $100 3. $50
13th place finisher additional $100
12th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 24th place finishers 5 gallons race fuel
Other awards and gift certificates are being supplied by Bruns General
Contractors, RaceCar Engineering, Phillips Racing Wires and Finney Racing
Enterprises.
Also on the race card will be the Sportsman Cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks
and Strictly Stocks.
Pit gates open at 3 pm with division practice scheduled from 4-5:40 pm.
Grandstand gates open at 6 pm with Modified qualifying set for 6:20 pm
followed by pre-race ceremonies and racing at 7:30 pm. There will be
eight-lap heat races for the Sportsman cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and and
Strictly Stocks with the 50-lap Billy Gunn Memorial for the Modifieds first up
following intermission. 25-lap features for the Sportsman, Mini Stocks and
Super Stocks will follow the Modified feature and the evening wraps up with a
20-lap contest for the Strictly Stocks.
Adult admission is $15 with all seniors (65+) and active military personnel
with ID admitted for $13. All kids 11 and under are free.
Attached Files
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